Foundations
by sofiacatalina
Summary: Elizabeth is a new English teacher at an exclusive all-girls boarding school in New England, where she might just meet the little sister of the man who could turn it all upside down for her.
1. Chapter 1

"Good morning everyone! Thanks for coming! I know it's early but I wanted to meet you all first before we went to morning convocation, I am Elizabeth Bennet, and I'm going to be your advisor this year." Lizzy was standing in front of the round table in her classroom, looking at the six girls who will be relying on her for the next academic year, and, she had to admit, feeling pretty terrified. "To make waking up earlier worth it, I made breakfast! I didn't know if you were all coffee drinkers or not, so I brought a pretty big amount of tea as well. I'm going to leave it all on the table, so don't worry and help yourselves. There's bagels and muffins too, and some apples."

While waiting for the girls to get their share of breakfast, she tried to notify distinctive traits any of them might had that would help her memorize their names faster. Two of them were blondes, but one was a lot taller than the other. One of them was Asian, an international student from Seoul, Lizzy remembered. Two brunettes who visibly looked alike sat together talking and laughing while they poured coffee into the mugs Elizabeth had brought. Lastly, a ginger girl, incredibly pretty, seemed a little lost between the other teenagers, which led Lizzy to thinking she was probably Georgiana Darcy, a new junior international student, coming directly from London.

"Apart from being your advisor, I am joining the rest of the faculty as an English teacher, so you might even have me in class. I know it's pretty lame, but do you think we could go around the table sharing some facts so that we get to know each other a little better? I can start!" As the students nodded in agreement one by one, Lizzy started thinking what she could share with them. "Well, my name is Elizabeth Bennet and I am 26 years old. I graduated from this same school, Duch's, and went on to study English at NYU and a masters in International Relations at Kings College in London. I loved this school as a student, and that's why I decided to come back as a teacher. I live near campus with my best friend Jane, whom you may know as the school's psychiatrist."

"Oh, right! She's the new and pretty one, isn't she? We saw her in the dining hall yesterday, she seemed really nice" one of the brunette sisters said in admiration.

"Seems to me you've already seen her then! She really is nice, you can go to her if you have any problem at all, you don't even know everything she's helped me deal with. We both graduated from here together, and have remained friends ever since, that's why you might see her wearing her school ring, as well as you might see it in my hand. How many of you are newbies?"

"I think Georgie, Mary, Katie and me are the all newbies, or whatever" this was the short blonde one speaking. From what Lizzy had gathered, Mary was the shy South Korean at the end of the table, and Katie was the other, taller blonde teenager. "My name is Lydia, I am fifteen and a new sophomore, I also come from South Carolina. I know you're going to say that I don't have an accent, thank the Lord, but that's because I worked real hard not to be considered like any average valley girl. I have class. Also, what even is the deal with all these strange names of newbies and oldies and the rings? I don't want to start getting all confused and freaked out when I just got here!"

"Don't worry Lydia, I'm sure you'll get on fine with all the suspense of getting through all the traditions of the school. You are given the ring at the end of your first year as a student, when you go from being a newbie to an oldie. That means you are full part of the community and that you have gone through all the initiation rituals that generations have been through before you. Mary, Georgiana and you are going to have an exciting year, no doubt! Do you want to share any other facts or should we move on?" Lydia made a head gesture indicating that the taller blonde girl could pick it up from there.

"Hey! I am Katie, I mean my name is Katherine obviously, but everyone calls me Katie and so you should too! Oh, I'm rambling aren't I? Sorry, sorry, sometimes it happens and I just can't help it! I'm a new sophomore too! I mean, I could hardly believe the coincidence because Lydia and I live right next to each other at Finn, and then boom! We are in the same advisory and probably share classes together! This is so great, I am so excited. What about you Georgie?"

"Well, uhhmm, hello. My name is Georgiana Darcy, but you can call me Georgie or Gia. I am a sixteen and new international student from London. I live in the same dorm as Lydia and Katie, across the street, I think it's called Finn, and I have a brother. My brother also studied at Kings, like you Ms. Bennet, but there's really nothing else to say about me." Liz saw her smile nervously at that, and she already knew she liked her. She seemed to be trying to calm herself down, as if she had anxiety just because of being around people. Liz was going to have to help her break her shell.

"Well, welcome to the US, Georgie! I think we might also have to welcome Mary, right there at the end of the table, you're a new international student too, aren't you Mary?" Liz was trying to make it easier for her to join the conversation, and it did seem to go pretty well, to her own surprise.

"Hi, I am Mary Kim. I am from Seoul, South Korea, and I came here to make friends and because it is a great opportunity for anyone to be able to come to such a prestigious boarding school that could help me get into a very good college if I apply myself diligently in my studies. I have a brother who is a year older than me, so a sophomore, and he goes to Netherfield, which I am told is our brother school."

"Oh! Is your brother like a cute Asian?" Lydia jumped.

"He is Asian, but I am not sure if he is cute... He's just my brother" this made Georgiana laugh, which Lizzy was extremely grateful for.

"Ok, girls! We're getting to the end, you two are left" Lizzy said looking at the sisters.

"We are Natalie and Zooey, and we are non-identical twins. I am Nat."

"And I am Zooey."

"Some people find it annoying that we go together pretty much everywhere, but don't worry Ms. Bennet, we are not a little twin clique, we hang out with plenty of other people."

"Yeah, like Mary King for example. Oh, do you think we could maybe mess up Mary King with Mary Kim because their names are so similar?" said Zooey looking at Natalie. They were completely immerse in their little conversation.

"How about we call her Mary K.?" Natalie was looking across the table at Mary now. "And we just keep calling Mary King, just plain old Mary like we've always done? I mean, we knew her first."

"That's fair, Nat. I seriously don't know what I'd do without you!"

"It's ok, Z. I'll always be here for you" if you forgot that they were leaving everyone out of their little exchange, just blankly staring at them, it was quite an endearing scene to watch. "Well, we forgot to say, we are seniors, and we are in the little acapella group that you're going to see singing in traditions all the time, so we wanted to tell you that no matter how hard it might be for you just to adapt this year, it is worth it. I was so homesick the first semester of my freshman year I almost went home, and I'm from upstate New York, which isn't even a 5 hour drive from here. But we made it, and you can too."

"That was incredibly sweet of you to say, Natalie. Thanks for sharing it with us. Well, before going to convocation, which is this big all-school meeting in which there's a bunch of welcome speeches and all that stuff, I'd like to set up weekly meetings with the new students, even if it's just for the first semester. And at least one meeting with both of you seniors, to discuss college applications mainly."

After organizing themselves so that Elizabeth could fit the individual meetings with each girl into her already packed week, they cleaned up after breakfast and went to the theater together to assist convocation as a group, and right there and then, Lizzy felt really excited for the year to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I am completely overwhelmed by the response this first chapter has had! I mean, it is my first story and I really didn't know what to expect, so thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites and followers. For all four of you who have said that you're waiting to see how the characters develop, don't worry, I am too. Also, I realized I forgot the disclaimer on the last chapter, but I don't really know how to edit it. (Yeah, I'm good with computers.) I tried to make this chapter longer, tell me what you think! **

**Disclaimer: Sometimes I cry myself to sleep because I am not Jane Austen and I do not own anything.**

"Lizzy, over here!" Jane called her the second she exited the line that had formed as students and faculty alike waited to serve themselves food one by one. She was sitting at the left end corner of the dining hall, mostly surrounded by other faculty tables, and she was not alone. With her were two other young women, probably teachers like her. One of them was dressed simply, in a pair of dark jeans and a sleeveless blouse, which she looked good on. She wasn't extremely pretty, like Jane might look, but she looked classic, homey, and just, well, nice. The other woman, on the other hand, looked every bit as extravagant as she seemed able to. It wasn't like she wasn't pretty, quite the contrary Lizzy thought, but she was just so overdone. As feminist Lizzy considered herself, and she will always stand by every woman's choice to wear whatever she'd want and put as much make up as she'd like, she couldn't help thinking the woman could have benefitted from a more natural look. She was wearing a short, tight summer dress, with big, flashy colored flowers that made her orange fake tan even more visible. Her hair looked a little bit flat, as if she had straightened it from an early age and it had just kind of dried out. It was a shame, because with less foundation you could have appreciated the nice shape of her eyes of how it went really well with her high cheek bones and her long nose.

After taking her first impressions from both women, she came closer to them and sat down next to Jane, the ever lovely Jane, at the table.

"Hello! I'm Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzy if you like."

"Darling, we've heard it all from sweetest Jane over here, I am so glad you both decided to come here this year. It was really starting to become extremely boring in this little Connecticut town. I am Caroline Bingley, of course, and I work at admissions. Janie said you were an English teacher? Well that sounds dreadful, just dreadful my dear. I don't think I could look at those hormonal, crazy teenagers for more than the 45 minutes that we have to share the dining room together."

"Well then I guess you're lucky that I'm the teacher, and not you." Lizzy was amazed at how fast this woman had been able to annoy her. However, it was nice to see the other woman laughing quietly.

"My name is Charlotte Lucas, nice to meet you. I teach Spanish by the way, so I totally understand how you feel." She smiled in complicity at her and was really glad Jane was so good at meeting new people.

"Well, how was everyone's first day? I know I had a blast! Everyone at the health center is incredibly nice and supportive; this is going to be a great year." Jane was of course the ever-optimistic she had always been.

"I met my advisees for breakfast before convocation, and I think I'm going to have a great group of young women this year to take care of." As she said that, Lydia passed by and waved at their table with a loud "Hey, Ms. B!" before sitting down and a crowded table full of obnoxious sophomores, which Katie was of course a part of. "There you have one of them. She's… bubbly, as you can see. But there's just so much contrast in that group, it's amazing. There's two international students, a freshman from Seoul and a junior from London, and they cannot be more different from Lydia."

"Oh, did you say one of your advisees is a junior from London? It isn't darling Gia by any chance?" Charlotte rolled her eyes at that, which meant Lizzy should probably be careful from then on.

"Well yes, Georgiana in part of my advisory group."

"Oh, Eliza, you are just lucky to be in charge of her! She is just so darling. I've known her for a long time, you know? My dear brother is best friends with her brother, who is just divine. Let me tell you, he is the most godly creature you have ever seen, of course we have this relationship going on, I mean it's not official because he is just so busy being an important business man and we can't meet as much as we'd both like, but I'm sure we are to be married son. Did I say he is divine? On top of that, he is just so caring and responsible! Taking care of Gia the way he did when their parents died, heartbreaking really. I'm sure he is going to be a truly amazing father to the little Carolines and Williams of our family." Was this woman for real? She seemed to be trying to play the role of perfect American housewife but getting lost at the crossroad with the 'completely obsessing over men' path and missing the fact that she just happened to not be a housewife.

"I do hope you have a bright future together, Caroline, however, I don't know if the story of Gia's past is yours to share so, as her advisor, I'd like to ask you to keep any personal information to yourself." Lizzy was already done with this woman, she just wanted to go back to her classroom, as much as she would have wished to keep talking to Charlotte for a while, she seemed nice and sensible.

Jane made small talk for the rest of lunch, as there was still some tension between Lizzy and Caroline, and the second the former finished her pasta she excused herself from the table and went back to Bonham, the building where the English and History classes were given. AS she was going to enter her classroom, she was surprised to see Georgiana, of all people, stading in front of her door, waiting for her.

"Hello, Georgiana, can I do anything for you?"

"I mean, I do have class with you next period, but since I saw you having lunch with Caroline Bingley in the dining hall I figured I might as well come here a little earlier since I wished to speak with you anyway."

"Perfect, come in and take a sit then." After they were both seated one in front of the other, she asked "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, I have known Caroline Bingley for a while and one of the things she is known for is not exactly for how discreet she is. So I'm guessing you already know plenty about my family."

"I wouldn't say plenty, but I do know more than I did this morning after our little advisory breakfast, to be completely honest with you. I understand that you might not be very comfortable with strangers talking about your personal life when you just got here, so I already told her to keep it to herself from now on."

"I mean, she is really annoying, but I am kind of glad she shared it with you since I didn't know how to do so myself. I just don't want to be known as the little orphan rich girl everywhere I go, you know? It's part of me, but it's not me. However, since you are my advisor, I know I had to talk to you about it, because you are basically going to take care of me for as long as I am here."

"That's fine then, I'm glad I know. If it's not too much to ask, are you close with your brother?"

"Well, he is 12 years older than me, and ever since our parents died, he has been the closest to a father, mother, brother and best friend I've ever had, so yes, we are close. We had a little disagreement over something not very important before we came here, but he has moved to New York to be closer to me and he plans on visiting me plenty, so I guess we're alright now."

"I'm really glad that you made up. Now that you're here though, I hope you get to see me as the person you can come talk to about anything you want, Georgiana. I am not that old, and can understand anything you'd like to tell me, since your love for Taylor Swift and boy troubles, to homesickness or your aspirations for the future. I am the person that is most responsible for you on campus, so be sure and don't make me look bad, young lady."

"You can call me Gigi, if you want. That's what my brother calls me."

"Very well, Gigi. I am glad we are off to a good start. I hope you are ready to have me as an English teacher though. I am tough and extremely passionate over the Great Gatsby and Emily Dickinson."

"I think I can take you, Ms. Bennet."

"That's the spirit!"

* * *

"Hello, working class hero! So, now that we are both home alone, how was your first day?"

"Oh, Jane! I really didn't think I was going to like it as much, but we might have an amazing year. It didn't even take me two seconds to remember the magic of this school. I know I had some doubts about accepting this teaching job, but I'm actually really glad I took it."

"Wait, is this really you? Are you sure this is my best friend? Being positive and optimistic? I'm seriously impressed by this attitude."

"Wait, is this really Jane? My friend who just got a sarcastic sense of humor in the last two hours? Yeah, yeah. I know I'm usually not very excited about this kind of stuff, but education is just such an inspiring field. I mean, I see my students and the life they have ahead of them and I can't help but wish the best for them and try to help them in any way I can."

"That's education for you!"

"How was your first day, then, wise educator?" Lizzy had taken a mug and poured some tea in it before taking a seat in the living room couch and she was waiting for Jane to put salad on her plate.

"It was lovely, Lizzy. Everyone was just so nice to me and they helped so much with everything. I had trouble getting my computer connected to the server and since our IT guy wasn't on campus they had to call a computer science teacher from Netherfield. You'd imagine he'd be a nerdy kind of guy, really into computers, who maybe didn't go out much, but he was incredibly friendly and down to Earth. I sat there kind of imagining him working on computers all day, but I couldn't, really. All I could see was a guy playing football or something."

"Ok, Jane, spit it out. Was he cute? What was his name? Did you get his number?"

"His name was Charles, but he told me to call him Charlie, and yeah, he was pretty cute. He had this permanent smile that was able to lit his whole face up, and it didn't leave his face for the time he tried to help me. He also had dimples, Lizzy! You know how much I love dimples! His hair was dark blonde and he had high cheekbones and light brown eyes."

"Well, well. You really did get a good look didn't you?"

"Not really, just the average first impression, I swear." Jane blushed lightly and it went so well with her natural softly tanned skin, that Lizzy got the familiar feeling of how envious she'd be of her if she wasn't as sweet and as good a friend of hers as she was. Jane was actually breathtaking; she was beautiful in every possible way you could think of. Her hair, a really light shade of brown, came down to the middle of her chest in perfect, shiny waves that took the light of the sun and reflected it in all directions. Her hair cupped the heart-shaped face, where the true wonders were. She had high cheekbones, but they weren't defined in the way that bony cheekbones would stand out, they just were next to her beautiful hazel eyes, and they helped make them stand out. Of course she also had a long elegant nose that paired up with her full lips and her rosy cheeks to make her look even more princessy than she already did.

After all these years, Elizabeth had learned that she didn't get anything out of comparing herself to her. Most of the times it just made her feel insecure, but she wasn't the insecure type. Even if she wasn't pretty, average at best, with her dark brown curls, porcelain white skin and pale blue eyes. In the summer, she had to put so much sunscreen on to protect herself from burning it was absolutely ridiculous. Of course, she also got a whole lot of freckles, which would look good if she had had Gigi's hair or a lighter shade of brown, but it looked completely extraterrestrial on her. Of course, her eyes were so big they didn't help either. Sometimes she thought that, if the Japanese were right and the eyes were a window for the soul, hers probably had to be the biggest of all.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: This is a little shorter than I wanted it to be, and it might not have too much action or whatever, but I needed it to get out of the way, so expect a longer, more exciting chapter soon! (TONIGHT OR TOMORROW, GUYS! It depends on how much I have to catch up on with 'The White Queen', are you guys following the show? It's so good, you really all should be watching.) R&R please! **** Also, I'm Spanish and a terrible train crash happened yesterday, we appreciate any support, even just through Twitter or whatever. **

**Disclaimer: Do you really think I could own any of these characters? Have you read the original and compared it to my writing? Because you should, this sucks so bad in comparison.**

"Jane! You didn't respond to my question! I don't like this whole sneaking around just giving the answers you want to give me, where is my sweet, honest, dearest Jane when I need her?" Lizzy had started mocking Caroline's nasal voice at that point, which had Jane laughing sitting on the sofa next to her. "No, but seriously, did you get this guy's number or what?"

"I didn't… I mean, I'd given it to him gladly and I really wanted to ask him for his, but you know Netherfield starts classes only a few days after us, and it didn't feel good to be bothering him like that. He seemed so busy, and, what if he already had a girlfriend? What if he was married and he just wasn't wearing a ring? It was probably for the better that I didn't make a move, maybe we'll just see each other again if we chaperone together for any common weekend activities that Duch's may have with Netherfield, maybe I'll just see him out around town any day. I mean, that coffee place down the block is the only decent one nearby, so there's a chance I'll see him there. Everybody needs coffee, right?"

"Janie, it wouldn't have bothered him at all! Now you have all these doubts about whether he's single or not and whatever, it would've been easier if you'd just given him your number. If he'd already had a girlfriend he would have told you then. Anyways, just think about it, a computer science teacher, Jane. I'm talking computer science here, a field that mainly consists on men, it's true and unfortunate for equality that there are so few women, just sitting in front of their computers all day. Do you really think he has a girlfriend?"

"You didn't see him though! He was so polite and had such good manners, he seemed so easy going and good natured and just nice, Lizzy, plain old nice and funny. He wasn't a player; there weren't any sexual innuendos or double meanings to anything he said. It was refreshing to meet someone like that after Luke, you know?"

"I know, and I can only imagine how you felt after everything that happened with Luke, but it's important that you open up little by little, not only to me, but to new people as well, ok? Do we have a deal?"

"We do, Lizzy. I love you."

That night, Lizzy and Jane kept talking about their first day, they discussed what had happened with Caroline during lunch, and how they both looked forward to get to know Charlotte better. Jane of course defended Caroline telling Lizzy that she probably just wanted to give her a little bit more of insight about her new advisee, but Lizzy wouldn't have it and, even though she was decided to give her another try, she already felt like Caroline was not going to become her best friend forever any time soon, which she was totally ok with.

They watched two of their favorite 'Gilmore Girls' episodes, just like they used to do when they aired during their high school years, and then they went to sleep to their rooms in their little shared apartment.

* * *

Three weeks later, Lizzy had her whole routine set up and tried to stick to her schedule as much as she could during the week. She woke up at 6:30AM went for a real run and then for a coffee run before Jane woke up. Classes started at 8:30, which meant that if she was fast enough, she had time to get to the other side of town to the little inn that had the best gardens around, and that was surrounded by a magnificent forest of enormously big old oak trees. She tried to get there as fast as she could every morning, pushing her limits a little bit further with every step she took. During her time at Duch's, she probably would have been a good cross country runner, but she had preferred to stick to theater and yoga, which weren't as competitive.

That morning however, she probably wouldn't have the time to run around the woods for a while once she got to the inn, since it was Open day at Duch's, and that meant that future students looking into applying to the school as well as their parents and parents and families of the current students were invited to visit and attend classes during the day and fancy-sort of- dinner that night. She had talked to her advisees during their last advisory period and knew that Lydia's, Katie's and Gigi's families were coming. Mary's parents couldn't come because they were busy and the long-distance flight was time-consuming, and Nat and Zooey were already very well adjusted to the school, so they didn't really need their parents to come. As their advisor, of course, she'd had to meet them during any of her class breaks, lunch or dinner. Gigi's brother would probably come to their first period class, since she was her AP English teacher.

She got out of her apartment building, music blasting out of her headphones, ready to go. She started running up Main Street, passed by 'Carson's' which was the best coffee place around, and didn't stop until she got to 'Meryton's Inn' which was basically the best and most expensive place to stay in the whole town. She had to admit, if the view from any of those rooms was as spectacular as was the view from where she stood, the price was probably worth it. Ernest Hemingway and his obsession with the same room at the same hotel in Pamplona, the Spanish city where he went to watch the running with the bulls for a number of years suddenly made sense to her when she imagined the beauty and familiarity of such a habit. It still seemed quite barbaric and dangerous to her, but she understood.

She entered the woods and ran around for a couple of minutes before clashing into a strong surface that had come out of nowhere. The impact pushed her back and she fell to the ground, scratching her arm with the branch of one of the little bushes around the path.

"Wait, where did you come from?" said the man in front of her, who had ended up perfectly fine and intact after their little bump. Lizzy couldn't help but recognize his posh British accent from her days at Kings.

"I was running down the path, like any normal human being would. Were you following the path? Because I'm pretty sure I would have seen you if you had been."

"I wasn't, well, I don't really know… I'm not from around here, you see?"

"I do, I completely, one hundred percent see. But that still doesn't excuse your coming out of the bushes like a mad man, you see?"

"You were the one who was running incredibly fast, madam." Lizzy could feel him getting irritated.

"But I was following the path. Set up so that people can run as fast as they want without being worried about another runner, or whatever you are and you were doing, coming out and crashing into them. Now, if you excuse me, please follow the path next time. Fellow runners and me would appreciate it a whole lot, thank you."

Lizzy turned around and started her way back home, leaving a stunned young man behind her. What a long day this was going to be, she thought.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: This took me a little longer than I expected to post, but here it is! I'm going to sleep now, hope you like it. R & R please! If you want me to put up links for the paintings and any other references (or dresses) that are used on this chapter, please tell me!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or works of art mentioned in this piece of writing, though I sincerely wish they did.**

After her crash in the woods, the one and only thing on Lizzy's mind was her desire of going back home to a warm cup of coffee and a long shower. That's why she sped up on the way back, and that's why she was twenty minutes early to the opening of the coffee shop that opened at 8. She went back home, took a warm shower to relax her muscles, and hesitated for a second about what to wear to Open day. The girls were told to wear in a dressy formal kind of way, which meant they weren't allowed to wear jeans or tank tops, but they could wear pants made from other types of fabrics and they were advised to wear casual dresses. She hadn't been cold while running, so she just went for a pastel orange sundress and a short blazer, to try and look at least a little bit professional. She paired it with dark blue flats and thought about how she'd have probably paired it with her Doc. Martens in her younger days. There was still a scratch on her arm from the fall, but the blazer covered it perfectly, and it didn't hurt. Before heading out, she applied some dark lipstick, took her computer and the books she'd need for class, loaded everything into her tote bag and checked if she was forgetting something. She wrote a note to Jane saying "Gotta run! It's Open day and Carson's was closed when I got there so you'll have to get your own coffee. Sorry, love you, have a good day!"

Luckily, the school's campus was at a walking distance from their house, a little bit further down Meryton's Main Street than Carson's was. She entered the coffee shop in a rush after another man who was just coming in. While she waited in line after him, she distracted herself with her phone, going over the notes she had prepared for today's class and meetings with the student's families. She had memorized the relatives names. Katie's parents were Aldous and Anne, Lydia's were Benjamin and Danielle and Gigi's brother was named William. She'd talked to Gigi a lot since that meeting on the first day, and she was really growing fond of her. She was smart and sensible, and though she seemed strong, Lizzy felt she lacked the confidence she could show given her intelligence. After going through the names again, she couldn't help but notice how the barista, Dan, was talking to the tall man in front of her.

"Not from around here, are you?"

"Strangely, you are the second person who asks me that same question this morning. I am not, I'm visiting my little sister in school but she told me the coffee is awful and that I should get it here."

"Well, we do have the best coffee in town. Are you enjoying your stay so far?"

"It's been entertaining, to say the least. My sister told me everyone was nice around here, in the town I mean, so I bet I just haven't met the right locals then, because I run into a crazy, angry woman just like an hour ago. She was running through the woods and blamed me for bumping into her, ridiculous." Dan seemed to notice her eavesdropping in the background because he turned his head to look at her.

"Lizzy, you go to the woods for a run every morning, don't you? Have you seen Mr. Rochester's wife running around and about to cause a fire lately?" Lizzy smiled at the old man. He had owned this café for years, it had been his late wife's father's and now it was his. He had hoped that one of his children would like to run it someday, but they were all off to college after graduating from high school and they had all settled up and had children of their own, in big cities, far from Meryton. She'd known his kids, they were all a little bit older than she had been when going to Duch's, but she'd go to the café so often they became friends, and she had even gone out Pete, his younger son. She'd been the most envied girl in Duch's for some time, maybe a close second after Jane, because finding a good boyfriend in an all-girls school could get to be hard sometimes and she'd been with Pete for a pretty long time, up until he went away to college to UPenn. They were still friends.

"I'm afraid I can't be the Jane Eyre this time, Dan," Of course the cute British guy only just noticed her "since I think this man is actually talking about me." She faced the man, who had turned around to look at her, and who was so tall Lizzy's head only reached his shoulder. Lizzy was not short, but she suddenly felt a little bit intimidated by the physic she had not been able to notice this morning, in the dark woods. He stood tall, at 6 feet 2 inches at least, and had large, broad shoulders. He didn't look like one of those fighting stars though, it wasn't like that. He was wearing an elegant blazer, similar to Lizzy's except it was bigger, of course, with a spotless white shirt underneath and some khaki pants that somehow made his legs seem extra-long. His hair was dark brown, pretty wavy, but those might have been curls if he had worn it longer, he had high, defined cheekbones, a long, nose that broadened at the nostril's level just to make way to the elegantly shaped soft-looking lips. His eyebrows were not as out-of-control as some men's were, they served their right purpose of aiding the shape of his light green, piercing eyes. "Elizabeth Bennet, part-time English teacher, part-time witch of the forest." She presented herself to the man as he looked at her, completely wide-eyed and seeming even more surprised after hearing her name. "Sorry to have frightened you this morning, but you know, running paths exist so that it is easier for people to run through the woods, maybe next time you should really follow one." She turned to Dan right then, so that she could avoid further conversation and to get her coffee, once and for all. "Dan, you wouldn't have my coffee already, would you?"

"Of course I do, sweetie, you're a little late today, and it's ready." She left the money on money and raised to her toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"Thank you, you're an angel truly. I have to go now, have a great day!"

"Good luck with Open day, you'll be fantastic." said the old man as she walked towards the door. Right before closing the door behind her, she waved goodbye and saw her favorite Englishman still looking at her.

Once back in her classroom, Lizzy still had ten minutes before class started and she decided to occupy her time straitening up a couple of things that seemed off. She put new tape in the few posters that she had hanging on the walls, she _Adele Bloch-Bauer's Portrait_ by Klimt, the _Portrait Of Mademoiselle Irene Cahen D'anvers_ by Renoir, as well as two poster-sized pictures she'd taken of the streets of Prague and Heidelberg, in Germany.

It only really took her a few seconds, so she decided to go to the bathroom to check her make-up and to see whether or not she looked like a crazy cat lady yet. When standing in front of the mirror, she was presented with the same dilemma she faced nearly every day. Her hair was completely unruly and she didn't know whether to put it up in a bun or not. Her curls were everywhere, and little bits stuck up on top of her head. She tried to come it a little bit, just so that it didn't seem as out of control, but it didn't really work, so she used the sink to get her hands wet and try to bring some definition to her curls.

When she got out of the bathroom, there had already been a couple of students in the classroom. The good thing about juniors was that, since it was already their second or third year in the same school, they didn't need their parents visiting them. Gigi was the only new junior in her English class first period, and so hers was the only family to expect apart from a family of visitors who were coming with an up-and-coming sophomore, hopefully.

"Hey, girls! We're expecting some visitors today, so it's great that you're here a little early to set up everything you'll need for class." They waited a couple more minutes, until it was exactly 8:30, for everyone to get there and take a seat. The students were to sit at the round table, which was the same one for all English and History classes, and the visitors had to sit on the chairs that were lined up against the wall.

* * *

A couple of minutes before the class begun, everyone was already on their spots, including the family of visitors, who had sat quietly, waiting for the class to start. The minute before the bell rang, in came Gigi, with no other than the man of the hour, the British runner/coffee drinker. Lizzy couldn't believe it, she should have seen it coming. Of course that idiot was her favorite student's brother. He had it all, he was British, attractive, and he had probably allowed to be arrogant and self-involved all his life, he was extremely rich. That he had been allowed to be an asshole to other people didn't mean that she'd allow it though. Just because he was Gigi's brother, William, she forced herself to think, didn't mean that they had to be best friends.

"Perfect, now that we're all here, we can start discussing our new reading. I suppose that you've all read 'The Scarlet Letter' by now, and not only watched 'Easy A'," Lizzy tried to lighten the mood in the class, but a couple of the girls looked a little guilty when she made the comment "because, as much as we all love Emma Stone, you should really try to always read the work a movie is based on before watching it, even more if the movie is a modern re-interpretation based loosely on the work. It'll help you understand the story and the characters better, that's for sure. Like it was indicated on the calendar, we'll have our first discussion on 'The Scarlet Letter' today, so girls, please download the document with the questions from the portal and open the document with the notes you've taken while reading the book." She then turned to look at the visitors with the best smile she could pull out and walked a little closer to them. "Sorry I haven't introduced myself, I am Elizabeth Bennet and I am a new English teacher and a graduate from Duch's, NYU and King's College in London. This isn't any normal English class, it's an AP course, which means that the girls are asked a lot more from than they would in a regular course, however, this group here is composed by a set of talented young girls that can take anything they set themselves to get."

The discussion went by pretty fast and was pretty uneventful as a whole, until a girl started defending the slut-shaming that the main character had suffered from. Her arguments were valid and she proved her point well, defending that the she should have seen it coming, that having a child with a man she was not married to in the middle of a Puritan settlement was probably not the smartest idea, and she said "she should just have kept her legs closed." Lizzy jumped at that, but this was not her discussion, it was the girls' and she was just there to see that everybody spoke up and gave their own opinions on the subject.

"Hester thought her husband was dead, though, and she had been unhappy on her marriage anyway. Why should she care about someone that never cared for her on the first place, and who is probably dead somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean anyway?" Gigi spoke up.

"I'm not saying she should have cared about her husband's feelings, Roger clearly didn't love her and was just hurt in his pride, what I'm saying is that she should have cared for herself. She knew her actions would have consequences, they always do. She should have cared about Pearl, too. What kind of future did an illegitimate child have at the time?" Sophia kept defending her point of view, which other girls in class stood with. It was interesting to see them exchange their opinions so freely, it was strange, but Lizzy realized that Gigi and Sophia could probably get to be good friends. They were both passionate and intelligent, and she could see Gigi opening up to her.

"But she was in love! Love makes you do things without thinking them over, you dive head first and only after you see the situation you've trapped yourself into." Gigi started lowering her voice at that, and Lizzy could see how William tensed up on his chair.

"I know, but I mean, this book, as much as people consider it to be a proto-feminist manifesto, only further exemplifies and helps to the idea of women being only driven by their feelings. Hester is a really strong character, that's true, but from the first moment she is careless and lacks the cold heart to do what her better sense would tell her to do."

Lizzy was still looking at Gigi, and got a little worried because of the way she behave for the rest of the period. She didn't talk much, only when she was asked to contribute directly to the discussion, and when the bell rang she got her stuff quickly and left the classroom as soon as she could, with her brother following behind.

* * *

Before lunchtime, she had already met with Lydia's parents, who were just as noisy as their daughter was, specially the mother, but with a heavier accent, which made them a little bit less bearable than their daughter. They discussed whether Lizzy thought an all-girls school was truly a good choice for Lydia, since they were quite a traditional family, and they expected their daughter to find her future husband before or during her college years, so that the poor thing didn't have to suffer through work right after graduating and just wanted her to center on having a family and being a good wife. A career could come later, or it could not come, that didn't really matter to them that much.

She had also met Katie's parents, who called their daughter Kitty, and who were so extremely calm and mild Lizzy could have sworn to be on the edge of falling asleep a couple of times during their conversation.

It was great that she had been able to talk to them between morning periods and during the snack break the girls had, because that way she didn't have to worry about having lunch with any of them and could just sit with Jane and whoever she was with, hopefully Charlotte.

When she got to the dining room, after serving some vegetable lasagna on her plate, she spotted Jane sitting next to Caroline, and a handsome young man whose dark blonde hair, amazing smile and cute dimples could only be Charlie's. What she didn't understand though, was what on Earth Caroline was doing sitting with them, third-wheeling the crap out of the cutest couple in the Dining Hall, but she was going to find out.

"Hi, Lizzy!" Jane's face was so bright and she seemed so happy, Lizzy couldn't take how adorable they looked.

"Hey Jane, Caroline, and who is this lucky guy over here, it's not Charles, isn't it?"

"And of course you are Elizabeth. Jane has told me all about you in our emails."

"Huh, so you have been emailing? That explains a lot, young lady." She said, looking to Jane. "Can I ask you to what we owe the pleasure of your presence? I don't think the Duch's dining hall seen a male part of the Netherfield faculty this young in years. By years I mean decades, of course, because I sure never did see one during my time here."

"I'm here visiting my friend, who came down from New York to see his sister."

"Wait, Caroline's brother was good friends with William Darcy, wasn't he? You're Caroline's brother?"

"The one and only, at least that we know, I'm Charlie Bingley."

"Wow, this was unexpected, nice to meet you, Charlie Bingley." She put special emphasis on his last name, because she really couldn't believe this nice computer science teacher was Caroline's brother. From what Jane had told her, Caroline's family was the old money type, the Hampton house and ski resort type. It just didn't really fit into that story that one of the offspring had found a love for computer science, but it did help her to respect him more, that he tried to take his own path and take his own choices in life.

"Nice to meet you too, Elizabeth Bennet."

"You can call me Lizzy."

"So, Lizzy, how is our darling Gia doing in class? Isn't she just darling?" Caroline lifted her voice suddenly.

"Well, I'm really lucky to be her advisor and have her in class, really. Gigi really is bright."

"Isn't she though?" That wasn't Caroline anymore; the voice came from behind her, where stood a tall, attractive man she had become a bit too familiar with for her liking. "I don't think we've met properly, Ms. Bennet, I'm William Darcy, Georgiana's older brother."

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Darcy, as you just heard I feel really lucky to be your sister's teacher and advisor, I hope you believe you are leaving her in good hands with me."

"Well, Georgiana seems really happy with you." He emphasized Georgiana in a way that made it seem like he wasn't as happy as the teenager.

"Oh, come on Darce! You're such a bum all the time. Look at her, just how professional does she look with that blazer, and Jane says she is really smart too. You went to the same college, which has to count for something." Charlie of course had to come in to save the situation.

"That's true, Mr. Darcy, Gigi mentioned you had studied at King's. I don't believe we met there though, what did you study?"

"Economics and political pcience."

"Oh, so it's all fancy parties and dinners for you, isn't it?"

"There's quite a lot of work, to be sure."

"But Lizzy, we are going to get to go to a fancy dinner party, as you call it, tonight. I hope you are ready, it's a really important event for admissions, and everyone must be ready to give off the best first impression and a good image of the school." Caroline was being her self-righteous self once more, she really could get into your nerves.

"Oh, Caroline, I really don't know if you can trust me with this. I mean, a woman that chose for herself this dreadful, just dreadful career as an English teacher, like you said it yourself, cannot be in her right mind to choose her own outfit for a dinner party. Thank goodness that I have Jane with me, who only chose to be a psychologist, and whose fashion sense can obviously be trusted, I mean, have you seen her?" Jane blushed and Charlie laughed, which she was happy about. She was surprised to see Darcy smile too. "As much as I'd like to stay and discuss outfits with you, Caroline, I'm afraid I have a meeting to attend, I guess I'll see you all fancy-dressed people tonight at dinner."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi everyone! I'm sorry this took so long, but I'm having trouble with my internet since I'm not at home and I also have lots of studying to do during the summer. So, here's the new chapter, it's a little longer and I'm pretty proud of it, so yayyy I hope you enjoy it as well. **

**To respond to some of the reviews, I am not sure about how long this is going to turn out to be, but I'm guessing around 20 chapters or so. You can always make sugestions about the length and what you want our favorite characters to do!**

**There are some 'Game of Thrones' and 'Twin Peaks' references in here, because I'm kind of totally obsessed with both of those shows, so I hope you all are going to understand them, if you don't, then message me! Let me know if you want me to add anything like a 'Previously' section or whatever. I'll see you soon, on the comments hehe.**

**Disclaimer: I sadly do not own any of the characters or stories mentioned on this piece of writing.**

* * *

"Ugh, Jane, do we really have to go?" Back home, after classes, Lizzy was not feeling this whole having to dress up to attend a fancy dinner for the school. She loved Duch's and that's why she was doing it, but it was probably going to involve lots of talking to investors, donors and annoying family members, which she of course was not looking forward to. Her 'Twin Peaks' Gold Box had just arrived from Amazon, and all she really wanted to do was snuggle in the couch wearing a big sweater and watch it until late at night. Plus, she knew that the moment she got there, Jane would go meet Charles, and she of course would try her best at keeping Caroline away from them. After the looks that she had shot Darcy during lunch though, she realized that might not be as difficult as she had thought on the first place. It's not like she could blame Caroline for being attracted to him, he was tall and muscular and handsome and had beautiful eyes… There she was rambling, it was probably wearing on her because of the time spent with Kitty. However, how Caroline actually liked the man, outside of physical attraction, escaped her completely. He was arrogant, self-absorbed, clearly thought himself better than everyone around him and just, all in all, a snob. She had met a fair share of those during her time in London, but she thought she'd been able to leave them behind. It wasn't like there weren't snobs here at Duch's or in Connecticut or in New England, even, but it was different. She was normally able to see them coming from miles away, she had always been fast and correct when placing judgments on people, so that's why she felt in the right when judging William Darcy.

"Of course we have to go Lizzy, you know how important it is to the school." She looked over at Lizzy again, and seeing as she didn't look convinced, she said "There's going to be good food too, they'll have those cute cupcakes with daisies painted on them that you like so much. Charlie said that Will will be there too, and we both think that you two would make a great couple."

"Jane Christina Parker, you have to be kidding me. First, how are you on a first name basis with him already? You know him for a few hours, not even."

"With Charlie? We've been emailing for a month, ever since the first day of school."

"Not with Charlie, of course. With William! You're already calling him Will and acting all friendly. Do you know he's the reason why I didn't run as much as I wanted to this morning? And that he said I looked like a crazy old lady when we getting coffee? That man has to be the devil's advocate, I'm telling you."

"Wait, Lizzy, you got coffee together?"

"Of course we didn't, Nancy Drew. We just run into each other when I went to get coffee. Just like we ran into each other earlier when I went running, and then he just showed up at my English class this morning. I mean, yes, I get it, he's Gigi's brother, but he should really give me some space."

"Now you're just talking crazy, Lizzy Bennet. He can't give you space when he has only known you for a day. Don't you feel the bond between you two just because of your mutual care for Georgiana? She's your favorite student, and he's her brother, you have to get along whether you want it or not."

"Okay, okay, I get it, you're my voice of reason, my better self, my conscience…"

"Yes, well, as your conscience I'm telling you to put on your prettiest dress and get ready for this dinner." Jane cut her off and smiled

"Aye, aye, captain!" She saluted her best friend and walked over to her room to choose what she planned to wear that night.

* * *

"Lizzy, are you ready?" Jane shouted from her room. It'd taken a while for her to pick out a dress but she'd finally chosen a dark blue, knee-length, chiffon slip dress. She brushed her curls and used hairspray to make them look like waves instead of her normal, unruly state and applied light eye shadow, cat eyeliner and dark lipstick.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." She exited her room to find her friend waiting for her at the end of the corridor, "I mean, it's not too late to take off this dress, put on my pajamas and watch 'Twin Peaks' until late at night, is it?"

"Lizzy you look beautiful! I love what you did with your hair, maybe you could teach me how to do it sometime." Of course Jane looked even prettier, she was wearing a coral pencil dress, with champagne ballet flats and her hair put up on a perfectly beautiful loose bun.

"Oh, stop it Jane, you know how to do the most complicated types of braids anytime, anywhere, so I doubt putting hairspray is anything you need me to teach you. Plus, you never need to do anything with your hair; it looks perfect all the time without you doing anything with it. I don't think I ever found a bed hair prettier than yours." By the end she was of course joking with Jane, talking in her most ridiculous voice, but it was true that she really didn't need any help or beauty tricks from Elizabeth. Jane didn't do it on purpose, of course, she wasn't aware of how some of the compliments she said sounded empty sometimes because of the beauty they were coming from, that's why she proceeded to blush and look down the moment Lizzy said that.

"Anyways, I'll never understand your fixation with that TV Show, it's old and creepy and doesn't even make sense."

"Don't question the Lynch genius, he might be able to hear you. He's everywhere."

"You're crazy." Jane smiled lovingly at Lizzy as she approached the door, ready to leave.

"I never said I wasn't." She closed the door behind her and they went down the stairs to get on Lizzy's Jeep, ready to take on everyone at that party.

* * *

They both let out a breath of admiration, "The Dining Hall looks beautiful, I can't believe the effort they put on everything looking better whenever the donors come by." It struck Lizzy how much of this was just for show, it looked great, for sure, but it looked right out of 'The Great Gatsby' it looked almost extravagant, there were linen drapes over all of the tables, the comfortable plastic-covered chairs that were normally there had been replaced by others, which were covered by this very soft white fabric that had beautiful designs embroidered, they had changed the plates for some finer china and the ceiling lights had been lit dimly. They had even brought the piano from the music room, and Lizzy noticed her friend Ezra, the music teacher, playing some Debussy over at the corner.

"So this is all for the donors, huh?" A deep voice startled them, sounding from behind.

"Of course not, William. Eliza was simply joking, you'll get to see how extremely funny she can get to be if you stay with me, I mean us, long enough to get to know me, I mean us, better."

"Caroline, Mr. Darcy was here for lunch. I extremely doubt him to be as stupid as to forget how the Dining Hall looked like less than ten hours ago."

"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, Ms. Bennet." He responded drily.

"Whatever you say, Eliza. Would you like some champagne William?" She didn't even wait for him to respond, just took him by the arm and guided him over to the corner where a table with champagne was setted.

"It's Elizabeth for you, Snaky. I am so damn done with her calling me Eliza, Jane. Please make it stop."

"That's just her way of being friendly, no doubt. She tried to give you a little nickname, that's nice of her."

"That's not a nickname, that's probably what she calls her voodoo dolls right before stabing them."

"And, dramatic Lizzy strikes back, everybody."

"Let's go find Charlotte," Lizzy noticed Jane looking shyly around the room and realized she was looking for somebody else entirely. "unless you want to look for someone else, of course, and unless you would like to look for him by yourself."

"Don't be ridiculous, Lizzy, who would I want to be looking for?" Jane blushed a deep shade of pink and looked down just as Charlie approached them.

"Hello, ladies. Doesn't the Dining Hall look beautiful? I am so glad Caroline succeeded in sneaking me in the dinner, have you seen the seat assignments on the board over there yet?"

"I'm afraid we haven't, Charlie, but I was just looking for Charlotte, so why don't you two go over there and then tell me all about the excitement in the seat assignments for this exciting evening of fun?" Lizzy was took the sarcasm in her tone to the extreme to make it seem even more like she didn't wish to be there, and it worked as she saw Charlie putting a hand on Jane's shoulder to start leading her towards the end of the room.

"You go have fun and be nice, Elizabeth Bennet." Jane said before turning around.

"Be nice to everybody blablabla" Lizzy mumbled under her breath.

"There you are! And of course you had to be complaining. I guess you wouldn't be our Lizzy without all the complaining, and the looking extremely gorgeous, of course."

"I wasn't complaining! Oh, Char, but I sure am glad to see you here! Snaky took the big man to get him drunk so that they can elope to Vegas and Jane and Charlie are being cute all over each other somewhere near."

"Those too are really just too much to bear for the human eye. I think Charlie really likes her, and they've only seen each other once or twice, right? That's a good sign."

"Yeah, I think Jane's excited."

"Really? I couldn't exactly tell during lunch if he liked him or she just liked having him around, you know? I wasn't sure if she only just enjoyed the attention."

"Jane's not like that Charlotte, and you know it! She just has a complicated past, regarding relationships and stuff, and it's not easy for her to open up."

"You might know that, but Charlie doesn't, so it might be better for her if she just tries to be a little more forward with him in the beginning, just to keep him interested."

"He doesn't need to be kept interested, he clearly likes her, and if he's not a total idiot, he'll see that she likes him too."

"We are all fools in love, Lizzy."

"Charlotte! I don't know if you've had the pleasure of meeting my beau tonight. Charlotte Lucas, this is William Darcy, one of the most important donors of the school, and a dear family friend of mine." Lizzy had seen Caroline and William approaching them, it was nearly impossible not to see Caroline, her tight orange dress was almost neon. She also noticed William cringe at the word 'beau' when he realized it was said about him, and Lizzy understood him completely, even pitied him, it was the kind of word that celebrity magazines used.

"I had not met him actually, you were gone when I got to lunch, Mr. Darcy, it's my pleasure."

"Please call me William." He said it in such a brisk and cutting manner that, even though it was a way to make Charlotte feel more familiar with him, it just set tension over everyone, except for Caroline, who seemed just overtly disgusted with the whole of the group and had only come to brag about her 'beau'.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, William. I know that this may sound cheesy or forced, but we really do appreciate the contributions made by you to the school, Duch's is extremely grateful for your kind actions." Charlotte sucking up to him wasn't the best feeling that, but Lizzy had to admit that her words were still true.

"I just want to make sure that Georgiana is in the best place possible, and if that is within my power to unsure, I will do it."

"You chose the right place then, Duch's is a great choice for Georgiana and for any other bright young girl like her, in my opinion." Lizzy tried to convey how strongly positive she felt about her alma mater. "I think she is adapting rather well, actually. We are extremely proud to have her be a part of our student body."

"As you should, my sister is very bright."

"Ms. Bennet! How wonderful to see y'all here!" Lydia's mother came running to her from behind, surprising the little group. "Oh, little Miss Lizzy, when we talked about how we shouldn't worry about our little Lydia not getting any game you didn't mention the handsome young men that hung out on campus. Don't worry about getting too close to our little Lydia, she won't be underage forever!" She said that looking at Darcy, before winking and walking over to her table.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Darcy, I'm afraid that's the mother of one of my advisees, Lydia. She is a sophomore but I'm sure she'll grow to be one of our best, once she focuses all her enthusiasm into more productive outlets."

"Her daughter is in the advisory group with my sister?" William said it with a very sharp and disapproving tone.

"In fact she is. My advisory is a very mixed group, and they all balance each other out."

"I'm pretty sure my sister doesn't need any balancing."

"Everybody needs a little balance, Mr. Darcy."

"Some people need it more than others, Eliza, and I'm sure I can help darling Georgiana in whatever ways she might need, darling Will. We just have to keep in contact though, which brings me to what I was saying earlier, I still have to get your number…" Caroline linked arms with her 'beau' as she pulled on him and they started to walk away.

"Isn't he the most pompous ass you've ever met? Undermining Lydia without even knowing her, just based on meeting her horrible mother for two seconds."

"Didn't you say that Lydia was a pretty annoying teenager?"

"Yes, of course I did, I mean, she has some maturing left to do, but it's one thing that I say it, as her advisor, and a quite different one if a man who doesn't know her at all judges her by the acts of her parents."

"I know, Lizzy, but don't judge him too harshly either, he's just worried about his sister. He moved across the Atlantic for her, he has to care really deeply. That's why he might be concerned about who she hangs out with or how she is treated at the school. When I thanked him for his donation, I wasn't kidding, he is one of our biggest donors, and that's a hard rank to get into."

"Ok, Char, I'll give him another chance, I promise. Now, let's go find where we're seated." Lizzy linked arms with her friend and they walked over to the other side of the Dining Hall, where they could spot Charlie and Darcy chatting.

"I think Jane's gone over to the bathroom, I'll go see where she is." Charlotte said and left Lizzy walking towards the two men.

"Darce, you should really try to be more talkative."

"I'm talking to the people that I feel comfortable talking to."

"Does that only include Caroline and me?"

"For the moment, I'm afraid so."

"Well, you could try to open that horizon a bit more. You know Jane's an angel, but Lizzy is really pretty, and smart. You could try talking her for a while, you'll have to do it eventually, she's Georgiana's advisor."

"I'll talk to her as Gigi's advisor, but nothing more. I'm actually afraid of her not being the best advisor for her sister either, she's a new teacher, it's her first job. Gigi needs experience, she needs good advice and expertise. I do agree on one thing though, Jane is extremely beautiful. Elizabeth, on the other hand is barely tolerable."

"I would think you were such a douche if I hadn't known you for so long, Darce."

Lizzy left fuming. Who was he to give out judgments like that? First Lydia, and then her? She knew that she wasn't as pretty as Jane, and she was used to comparisons, but it still hurt to be called a bad advisor by the guardian of your favorite student. She needed to get away from there, but there was still a whole dinner left of conversation and of breathing the same air as Darcy, so she just walked over to where she saw Charlotte and Jane standing.

"Janie dearest, I do hope I'm not interrupting, but may I please be informed as to where I shall be seated?" Lizzy tried to fake a posh British accent, much like Darcy's, which resulted in everyone in their little group laughing lightly. She was not going to let that posh prick ruin her mood.

"Well, Lizzy dearest, Charlotte, you, Charlie, Will and I are all sitting at the same table, while Caroline is sitting on a table with prospective donors, I believe, and with her fellow workers of admissions. Other faculty members are spread through the different tables with other donors."

"Do we know if Caroline's going to stand being apart from Darcy for that long? I mean, they seem so… Taken with each other." Lizzy tried a new strategy to see if she could avoid being near Darcy for as long as possible.

"Well, Caroline's been pursuing Darcy for quite a long time, but I don't sincerely think it's going to go anywhere. As her brother, and his best friend, I've told her before, but I think Darcy looks for something else from a woman than what my sister can offer, even though I love her to death, I just don't think they're compatible." Charlie joined the three friends, instantly standing next to Jane.

"Harsh words, Charlie Bingley, you may survive us yet."

"Is that a 'Game of Thrones' quote?"

"Actually, I think it's a 'Clash of Kings' quote, but yeah, you get it." Lizzy turned around to see who had asked about the reference and was surprised to see none other than William Darcy, the man himself, standing behind her.

"Tyrion says it to Sansa doesn't he?"

"Yes, when she is able to stand Joffrey's beating in front of court." By that moment, Charlotte had started another conversation with Charlie and Jane since none of them were interested in their discussion about 'A Song of Ice and Fire'.

"That's when I started liking Sansa little by little, before that moment, she was completely unbearable."

"Are you kidding me? Ugh, I hate it when people judge Sansa so poorly from the beginning. She wasn't stupid like everyone judges her to be, she was just a child. She is only eleven when Robert visits them in Winterfell, and she thinks all her dreams have come true. She thinks she's going to be the beautiful queen to a beautiful king, and, to her defense, all girls have wanted that at some point in their lives. Plus, she is incredibly strong and smart enduring the plots at court, how Joffrey treats her, how Cercei treats, and being so far away from her family. Everyone loves Arya, and I love her too, but I always feel so over protective of Sansa because of all the crap she gets. She's just a child, for heaven's sake, and one of the strongest competitors to the Throne in the north, if you ask me." Darcy stood before her, staring into her eyes intensely. She wasn't sure if he was paying attention, because even when she raised her voice at some points, he didn't even blink, just continued to look at her, like she was this exotic creature whose eyes sparkled with passion when she talked. She didn't like that look, not a bit.

"This is exactly the same discussion that I had with Gigi, well, Georgiana. Seeing it from her point of view really made it easier for me to understand, but I still see her being too easily manipulated at times. What happened in the first book was unforgivable, of course, but she was also so mean to Tyrion at times, and that was only because she was shallow. She expected to be married to Loras, who was this beautiful knight, but she got stuck with an ugly dwarf and that makes her unhappy. That's incredibly superficial."

"I thought the same at first, but if you put her actions in context, they really are more relatable. I think I like Sansa because she is one of the characters I find myself closer and more easily identified with. Her mother and brothers, for all she knows, have just been murdered in a massacre, she is stuck in King's Landing, she doesn't know if she will ever be able to see her home again, and she feels completely alone. Then, she sees a ray of hope that is her marriage with Loras. She thinks she'll escape Highgarden and that she'll finally be out of the Lannister's reach, but oh, woops, no, we were kidding, now you're right in the middle of the household you hate the most. I mean, you're married to the nicest Lannister, who is, however, still a Lannister, so sorry." Darcy laughed at the voices Lizzy was making, when she was just letting out her frustration and anger at him by talking about another theme that she felt mildly passionate about, and then turned to the whole group.

"Caroline told me that it was time for her to join her colleagues at their table and that we should start to sit down since dinner will be served soon."

"Food at last." Charlotte said. She led the group towards their table and they all sat down. Charlie got there first, pulled the chair for Jane to sit in and sat next to her. Next to him sat Charlotte, then Darcy and finally Elizabeth, who had Jane to her left and Darcy to her right.

"I'd never met a woman who'd read 'A Song of Ice and Fire', it's great to meet people who haven't only watched the TV shows and who watch it for something other than the boobs."

"That was the teensiest bit sexist of you to say, Darcy, since there are plenty of women who have read the series, but it was actually my father who recommended these books to me, saying that the women in this series were some of the strongest characters he had ever read. Of course, that was over ten years ago." She sighed at the memory of her father, and how much they had shared. She then composed herself and said, "And it's really only your fault that you don't know more women that have read those books, that only means you're not meeting the right kind of women." He's such a douchebag.

"And what kind would that be?"

"The normal women type. The ones that enjoy reading and traveling and listening to music. The ones that even enjoy running sometimes."

"I'm always impressed by the amount of things women seem to be able to do." Charlie said. "You're all able to speak different languages, have a career, have hobbies, read lots and take care of everything that goes wrong."

"Yes, and we can do all of that and still be able to bare your beautiful children in the end." Charlotte said, sarcastically.

"Well of course, but I mean, that's not what makes you that great, there's plenty of other things that you master at."

"Ignore Charlotte, Charlie. She's just bitter. There's this feminist idea that says that women have gone from being completely undermined and underrated, when everyone thought that all they were good at was just housewife duties, to being asked too much of. Now, if you watch commercials, movies, or simply women in pop culture in general, they are represented by these super-women that are able to be successful at their job, have a great career, and still be able to come home at night and take care of all the household duties like putting the kids to sleep and taking all sorts of care of them, making dinner and getting everything ready for when their husband comes home. It's completely impossible for any woman, or any human being, now that we're at it, to be perfect at everything they do, and being asked that, as women are from the media, is just impossible. As long as you don't ask that from us, though, you're safe from another feminist rant for about two weeks." Lizzy joked at the end.

"And that's the Lizzy that was head of school." Jane said, smiling brightly at her best friend.

"Oh, stop it, you're making me blush."

"Seriously, Lizzy, you were head of school?" Charlie was certainly surprised. "But you're only 20 something and there's already a head-mistress.

"Head of school at Duch's means that, your senior year, you represent the whole student body and their wishes in front of the school committee when they meet." To everyone's surprise, it was Darcy that responded.

"That is true, Mr. Darcy. I'm curious as to how you know that though."

"Well, my mother was the head of school her senior year when she was a student here as well, Ms. Bennet."

"I didn't know your mother was an alumnae, I don't think Gigi mentioned it."

"Gigi doesn't know, and I would appreciate you not telling her."

Just as she was going to ask why it was that she couldn't talk to her advisee about her mother, the first course arrived and they all started to eat as Jane and Charlie made small talk for everyone at their table. Darcy avoided her conversation all night after that, and she just hoped that there would be another occasion in which she could ask him and be able to satisfy her curiosity.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hello everyone! A quick update today, but I think I'm going to be able to make these a lot more regular and update much more frequently from now on, I swear. **

**So, the last chapter got mostly positive reviews, which I'm super happy about, but I got one which was like actual criticism and it was really really helpful so that was actually great. Dear Ian Moone, seriously, thanks, because the two things that you pointed out were things that I wasn't kind of unsure about, so it was really great that you said you didn't like them. I will try to keep the long conversations with references outside of Pride and Prejudice out of this story from now on! Also, I'm spanish, and I've only ever written in English for class up until today, so that's why everything might seem a little bit too formal, because I'm used to being required to write that way. For this chapter, I also included Darcy's and Gigi's point of view, which I hope will help to it being a little more lively. **

**AmberS76 said in her review that she'd like for this story not to follow the same order and events of the book, and I have two outlines prepared, one which follows the book's events and one that doesn't, so if you let me know which one you'd prefer, that'd be awesome. I might PM previews of next chapters to those of you who review, so hey, type away.**

**Lastly, if someone would be interested in helping me out and being my Beta (I don't exaactly know how it works just yet, but I trust myself to figure it out) please let me know, thank you!**

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**Previously: **Lizzy attends a fancy dinner party at the school in which she overhears Darcy and Bingley talking about her and Jane. She also learns that William's mother attended Duch's as a teenager, but that she is not to tell Gigi, she just can't understand why.

* * *

"That wasn't so bad was it, Lizzy? I had tons of fun. The food was good, the company was good, the music was good… I really love that we can attend these parties at last. Remember how we used to watch them from the music building? How we only got a peek at what happened from the window, but how much we loved it anyways? Everyone looked so sophisticated, so grown up and elegant."

"Well I guess the spell is over now, I really don't feel sophisticated, grown up or elegant. I just feel like a lost 26 year old, pretty average stuff, if you ask me."

"Oh, Lizzy don't do that. You are bright and you have your life ahead of you. You love your job, you love your students, and you are a great teacher." Lizzy didn't look so convinced and Jane started to worry. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Well, I overheard a conversation between Darcy and Bingley. By the way, I'm pretty sure that man is like infatuated with you already so please, make the world a better place and get married and start having kids right away. You'll be doing the rest of the world a favor." Jane had that look right then, the look when she was too shy to admit how pleased she was about Charlie liking her. "But anyways, I overheard Darcy saying that I couldn't be a good enough advisor for Gigi, because he thinks I am inexperienced. I suppose he might as well take all the money he's giving to the school away since he thinks that we are not treating his sister the right way. He also said that I was barely tolerable, looks-wise, which I believe plays as an advantage for me because that probably means that he thinks I'm not pretty enough to look at, and so he won't look at me, which is perfect, if you ask me."

"Lizzy, I'm sure he didn't mean it that way. He had spent like half an hour near Caroline, he was probably really tired. Charles told me that he didn't even want to go to dinner tonight, he just wanted to take Georgiana out to spend some time with her, but that Caroline wouldn't let him. He was probably just unhappy about other things and when he found just a second to let it all out with his best friend you were just the first topic that they talked about. You know I always envied you, growing up. You were always the one with the perfect grades, who was in the best classes, who was good friends with the teachers; they hired you to babysit their kids, to watch over their pets when they went away for a short period of time…"

"And you were always the one who everyone loved, Jane. You were the one invited to the parties, the one was talked to by boys, and then since I was your roommate I got to come too. You were the one that got asked to dance first at dances…"

"And look where that's got me. I can't even act normal around a guy I like and I'm nearly 26. Luke left me scars Lizzy, if you had not been there for me at the time, I don't know if I'd ever gotten better. I make lots of friends very quickly, that's true, but you're the one who is good at keeping them."

"That's because you like everyone so fast and you excuse all of their actions and it's hard for you to drop them when they've been horrible to you. I really admire that, because most of the time, I judge everybody way too fast. When I first met you, I thought that you were going to be one of those very pretty, very cliquey popular girls who is nice to everyone to their faces, but actually talks crap about them behind their backs. You are the furthest from that I have ever known. You are the nicest person ever, Jane, and you deserve to be happy, truly happy. I don't know, and I don't care if that is with Charles, or without Charles, here or in Timbuktu. Luke is far, far away and he's not going to hurt you anymore." Jane hugged her friend tightly and didn't let go for a while. They were both wearing their pajamas, sitting on the couch drinking some tea, which made it uncomfortable for them to be so close to each other at first; after two minutes, however, they didn't care anymore.

* * *

The morning after was a Saturday, so Elizabeth let herself sleep in until ten o'clock. She put on some yoga pants and a tank top in which was printed 'Admit that the waters around you have grown', which was her favorite line from 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' by Bob Dylan, in a beautiful font. She walked over to Jane's door and since it was open she could see that her friend was still sleeping. She put on a dark green military-style coat and a pair of boots and was ready walked over to the town bakery 'Bake my day' to get some cinnamon and banana bread. Of course, out of the two flat mates, Jane was the best baker. She could make all sorts of baking goods, all types of scones and breads and cupcakes with beautiful frosting, but if she started baking anything when she woke up they wouldn't be able to eat it in a while, and Lizzy was hungry, so she decided to take the easy way out and just buy it. She then went to Carson's, as she was in a big need of caffeine.

"Good morning Dan, please, a cup of deep, black joe." Lizzy announced as she was entering the coffee place.

"Has someone been re-watching 'Twin Peaks'?"

"If only, Dan. Instead of enjoying my new gold box set with both seasons that I bought, I was stuck at a fancy dinner party yesterday, it was torture." Lizzy heard a familiar chuckle at the corner of the coffee shop, and was horrified when she saw Georgiana sitting there with Darcy next to her, the girl smiling, the man cold as a rock. "I mean, everything was torture except for the time spent with you, Mr. Darcy, which was the best part of my night." The sarcasm was dripping from her tone, but the Darcy siblings both smiled.

"I'm glad I made your evening enjoyable, Ms. Bennet."

"We're all being so formal here, Will. She's my teacher so I have to say the whole Miss thing, but you don't. Ms. Bennet, you can call him Will if you want."

"I think I like Willy better. May I call you Willy, Mr. Darcy?" He stiffened at that, and looked over at Gigi, who was looking back at him playfully. He looked at her, horror in his eyes. How dare she make fun of him? In front of her sister too, of all people.

"Sure." It was so hard for him to even mutter that single word that Gigi and Lizzy both laughed whole-heartedly.

"I think I'm just going to go ahead and call him William, Gigi. I don't think I like him enough to give him a nickname yet. I clearly don't like him as much as I like Snaky, and it took me some time to give her the nickname."

"Who's Snaky?" William whispered to Gigi.

"It's Caroline, of course." Lizzy was faster at replying than Georgiana. "And where is lover number 2 waiting for you?"

"I don't know what you mean by that, Ms. Bennet, Caroline and I are merely friends, if you can even say that."

"Then you should probably tell her before she plans your wedding."

"She's right, Will, the second Caroline knew you were coming to see me, she started asking me what color I'd like better for my maid of honor dress."

"She's gone completely mental, hasn't she?"

"We are all fools in love, William." Lizzy said, quoting what Charlotte had said about Jane and Charlie last night.

"Lizzy, dear, your coffee is ready." Lizzy walked towards her coffee, and her friend too.

"Thanks, Dan. How's Pete? Any of them coming home soon? You know it's not the same without them."

"Pete just broke up with his girlfriend I think, so he might be coming back home for a little while. He says he has to get out of Chicago, out of their old apartment, so he might take a few days off. Emma told me. He's the only one who isn't married yet, you know that, don't you? I think he really hasn't been the same without you around."

"Oh, Dan, don't give me that much credit. He was the one who moved far away though, I never did really leave New England, you know I couldn't."

"Of course I know, Lizzy. We like you in New England very much though, so it's good that you haven't left us."

"And I don't plan on doing it soon, that's for sure." She took hers and Jane's coffee and turned to the exit. "Well, it was nice seeing you both. Gigi, William, have a nice weekend."

"Wait! Ms. Bennet, you know the area pretty well, don't you? Will and I were looking for things to do while we were here, and since we're both relatively new, we'd love it if you agreed to come with us and help as our guide."

Lizzy thought about it for a second. He didn't like the man, that's for sure. He was arrogant and had not been nice to her at all since he had arrived. However she was curious, Gigi clearly cared deeply for him, and him for her. He did seem a different person when he was around her, whether or not that was the real William Darcy or he was just faking it for his sister, she was going to find out.

"Ok, sure. Let me go home to give Jane her coffee and change and I'll be right back. Do you have a car, William?"

"I do, actually."

"Is it an expensive car?" Will immediately thought she was one of your average gold diggers.

"I suppose it depends on your definition of expensive, but for most, yes, yes, it would be an expensive car." That sounded so arrogant Lizzy couldn't even believe it.

"Ok, then we're taking my Jeep."

"I refuse completely. I brought my own car and I intend to use it."

"Sweetie, this is how it works. I take you to interesting, beautiful places, I drive. And I don't want to be responsible to anything that happens to that, I'm sure, very expensive car that you have parked out there, so we're taking my Jeep. I'll come to pick you guys up in half an hour or so." Gigi looked thrilled, and so, so proud of her amazing advisor for standing up to William. "Oh, and Mr. Darcy? I'm sorry, but you'll have to deal with a 'barely tolerable' tour guide." She turned around and proudly walked out the door.

* * *

Had that really just happened? Had Elizabeth made a comment about his conversation with Charles the night before? He'd have to apologize eventually, because his opinion of her had quickly changed over dinner. She was funny, intelligent, very opinionated, and caring. She'd known Gigi had liked her, but talking to his siter just know showed him how much respect she had for her advisor, and how much she admired her. The 'Twin Peaks' reference had helped, because it was probably one of his favorite TV shows of all time, but the Bob Dylan T-Shirt had sealed the deal. He loved everything she liked, to a kind of creepy degree actually. Could she have known about his likes before this meeting? Could she have asked Gigi because she was interested in pursuing him? Caroline had certainly tried to do that last night, but when she quoted Capote and mistook him for Hemingway, it was clear she had no idea what she was talking about.

However, he was still surprised at how easily Gigi had invited Elizabeth to come tour the area with them. This was supposed to be a day for both of them to spend some time together, alone, so that he could get to talk to the sister he missed so much, and now that impulsive, fierce, funny and beautiful English teacher had come between them. Who was that Pete guy anyway? Darcy guessed he had to be either really sensible or really mad to have left Elizabeth behind. There certainly was something about her, something about those passionate, piercing green eyes that drew him closer and closer to her.

"Brother, I'm afraid to say that you got owned."

"Gigi, I'm afraid to say that America is clearly getting to you."

"Well, you know, like, I just love the land of the free. It's this great land of freedom for all, except for like everyone." Gigi made her best attempt at a valley girl accent and, much to Darcy's dismay, was pretty good at it. "Don't you love her, though? Lizzy, I mean. She's so clever and funny and…"

"Crazy?"

"Not exactly the word I was looking for, but sure. Crazy in a super fun, super cool way. I think you two are similar. I mean, you like the same books, same movies, have the same taste in music, but at the same time you're also very different from each other because where you are careful and patient, she is intuitive and impulsive, in a good way though. She doesn't take decisions lightly, but she tries to take the tension out of the process. I'm glad she's my advisor, and she's been helping us a lot."

"I take it that you're adjusting well, then."

"I am, Will. You really don't have to worry. I don't even know how you found this place, but it is absolutely perfect for a getaway. The students are so close to one another, there's all these traditions and rituals that we have to go through to become true members of the community and they are so much fun. They seem so antic too, it's like we're not only close to our fellow classmates and students, but we also feel very close to the generations of past graduates that came before us. It's magical, Will, this place is pure magic." Will looked at her sister bitter-sweetly, if only she knew how close to those past graduates she was.

"I'm glad you like it here, Gigi. And I'm glad you like your advisor. To be honest, I wasn't very sure about her at first. She seemed so young and inexperienced, I thought you deserved someone better."

"Don't be ridiculous, Will. There is no one better. She was head of school, graduated top of her class, took a gap year to take care of some family matters but still got admitted into plenty of Ivy League schools. She just chose NYU because that's the one in which she could take a smaller load of classes to still be able to take care of that family issue, but before that she was planning on going to Stanford, because that's where she'd gotten the biggest scholarship. You can't judge her because of all the goofy stuff she says, she's brilliant, and such a good role model."

Darcy was stunned. Could she have judged her so wrong?

"She's actually working on her thesis right now too. I think it's about feminism and the advantages of same-sex schools for girls."

"That sounds very lesbian-like to me. She said she lives with Jane, doesn't she?"

"You just keep getting better every time I see you, William Darcy. And by better I hope that you know I mean ridiculous and douchey and judgmental. Yes, I'm a feminist. Yes, I live with Jane, my best friend since high school. But no, much to my dismay right now because I have to treat with the opposite sex regularly, I am not a lesbian. Can we please go?" Lizzy couldn't believe her ears. If she'd walked in right at that moment, what could he have said of her during the rest of his conversation with Gigi? She wasn't offended at being called a lesbian, it wasn't an insult and she had no problem with it, it was only the way that he had just deduced it because of her feminist ideas and because she lived with her best friend. The way that everyone drew their conclusions out of those two simple facts about her always stunned her.

Gigi shot Darcy a cold stare and abruptly followed her advisor's path. She seriously couldn't believe her brother sometimes. He always thought himself to be right. To give him some credit, most of the time he was right about his assumptions, but there were clearly other times, and they were proving themselves more and more frequent, he couldn't be more wrong. It was going to be hard for him to apologize to Lizzy too, he wasn't used to having to apologize to anyone, let alone a woman who he had only known for about two days.

As the three of them were lost in thought, they arrived to Lizzy's Jeep. Lizzy loved her car, it was an old 2000 Jeep Wrangler that had been her father's, a dark green color, which top could come off and she had spent countless hours driving it across the East Coast.

"Gigi you ride shotgun with me, and smarty pants can sit in the back. You signed the paper work so that I could drive her around, didn't you Mr. Darcy?" She was back to calling him Mr. Darcy, and William didn't like it. He thought they'd moved on from that, but he had clearly made it worse.

"I think I remember I did. I mean, I signed something so that her advisor could drive her, they said it was the best to do just in case of emergency."

"Then I think we're all set. Gigi, come to the front, you get to choose the music."

"I didn't think your car would admit CDs, judging by how old it looks."

"Don't judge a book by its cover, Mr. Darcy. This car is as smooth as your Mercedes, I'm sure, and I had all the changes made so that it was as modern as possible."

"So, Ms. Bennet, where to?"

"Well, we are close enough to Hartford, so I figured we could go there first, since it's a 45 minute ride or so, and there we could visit Mark Twain's house and the museum. We could have lunch after that, and then go to the Wadsworth, because it's its best fine arts museum. We can see where the road takes us after that."

"Sounds perfect!" Gigi was excited to spend time with her brother and with her favorite teacher. She'd really hope they'd get along, she'd even thought that they could become pretty close, at least while Gigi was still in school, and when she went away to college maybe they could become something more. Apart from Mrs. Reynolds, there weren't really two people that she cared for more than the two stubborn individuals that were stuck in this car ride with her. She really hoped William could behave himself from now on.

* * *

_The Wadsworth Antheneum is a beautiful museum in Hartford that you should all visit, just like Darcy, Gigi and Lizzy are going to do!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the new chapter! **

**To the guest to couldn't believe that there were still people out there who sent their kids to same sex boarding schools, I can tell you that my best high school year was spent in an all-girls boarding school, thousands of miles away from my family. For girls at least, it's a really friendly enviroment in which to gain confidence without having to worry about boys judging you or thinking you're too smart for them. It's a great enviroment in which to grow as an individual without having to worry whether or not boys are not going to like you because of your opinions or the grades that you get in classes. As sad as it is, in today's society, a lot of girls, specially teenage girls, play dumb around guys just because they think they'll be intimidated if they show their true potential to them. I have friends which act like that around boys, but hopefully, it's only outside of school, since in class they only have to worry about being their best self, and all girls schools really focus on those aspects. Also, consider Gigi's family situation, it's not like she can live with mommy and daddy back in England, and Darcy is only her older brother who is super busy doing whatever he does in the business world (tbd).**

**I sent some previews to the people who commented on the last chapter, so keep reviewing and you'll get one! (Only if I can PM you, though, sorry!)**

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"How about this Sinatra CD?" Gigi looked through Lizzy's CDs and was not suprised to see one of her brother's favorites.

"Gigi, we're going on an adventure!" Lizzy said that with more excitement than she was actually feeling. "Okay, maybe not an adventure, but we are on the road. Put on something more lively, or more folky."

"No Smiths then?" Gigi sounded disappointed. Of course she couldn't show her brother how perfect she was for him.

"No Smiths." The teen kept on looking through her extensive CD collection.

"Lizzy, you own the 'Juno' soundtrack?" Gigi tried to hide her surprise.

"Yup, it's got great artists, you know? Plus, that movie is seriously the best. I am so much like Juno sometimes I wonder if I'd have gotten pregnant during high school had I actually been around boys." Darcy looked up at that. How could Gigi consider this woman a good role model?

"My mum was pretty young when she married my dad and they had Will. I think she was around 23 wasn't she?" She looked at her brother, hoping to get as much information possible.

"Yes, I believe she was 24 when I was born." Darcy did not seem eager to give anything else.

"Georgiana Darcy, are you going to put that CD on or are we going to grow even older than we are before you play it?" Lizzy was pretty curious when it concerned knowing more about the Darcys matriarch, but this wasn't at all the time or the place for questions like that.

"Yes, sir." She introduced the 'Juno' soundtrack on the CD player as the first song played, she looked out the window at the beauty that surrounded them. "Lizzy, I mean… Ms. Bennet, is the fall always so incredibly gorgeous in Connecticut?"

"To be completely honest with you Gigi," she tried to seem serious, but then let it go, "it is. The moment the leafs start turning yellow it's like you can't stop looking at them, because if you did the color will die away and they'll turn grey. It's like you can't remember them being any other color which isn't this vivid orange."

"Yeah, that's it." Darcy couldn't help but to look out the window too, and he found himself as bewitched as his sister was.

* * *

When they got to the Wadsworth, it was about noon or so, so they decided to go in and check their permanent collection and come back after lunch if they liked their other expositions.

"We offer audio guides, and there is a highlight tour scheduled for the next few minutes if you'd like to join. I believe that group over there is talking to the guide already." Said the pretty desk lady as they gave her their tickets. She was shooting Darcy the most obvious 'you can have my number' glare that Lizzy had seen in a long time.

"Thank you for your help." Darcy replied, not even being discrete with his flirting tone.

"Ugh, can we move on?" Gigi put voice to Lizzy's thoughts of frustration as she ignored her brother and moved on. "So, Ms. Bennet, do you want to go on that guided tour?"

"I know this museum like the back of my hand, and not being able to move at my own pace around museums really annoys me, so I think I'll pass. You can both go if you'd like though. You have my number Gigi, so you can just text me when you're done."

"The idea of a guided tour doesn't really attract me either, I prefer to move around at my own pace when walking through museums." Darcy had come back to them from 'pretty desk ladies land' and Gigi saw her opportunity.

"But I really want to go! It's like getting the inside story about all those paintings, they gossip about the artists and their lives and all. I cannot miss it, but I think I can go by myself. But you guys should stick together though, since you don't have each other's numbers." She figured that, whether they toured the museum around together, or just exchanged numbers, it'd be a winning move.

"I guess we should stay together then." To Gigi's surprise, it was Darcy who said it to Elizabeth.

"So you don't want my number that much, huh?" Darcy's face reddened in embarrassment. Of course he wanted her number, but he'd rather spend some time with her first. Time alone, at that, and surrounded by art, so he actually had something to talk about that wouldn't lead him to insult her without him meaning to.

"Don't be too hard on him, Ms. Bennet, he's always just moved around a different kind of people, and it's taking time for him to adjust." His sister truly enjoyed making fun of him, that's for sure. "Well, the group's leaving, I'll talk to you guys in a little bit."

* * *

"Your sister's a trouble maker, a smart and responsible one, but a trouble maker none the least." He supposed that the proud smile that she wore on her face when talking about Gigi probably echoed his' when he found himself in the same situation. They started walking towards the paintings on the first floor.

"She's been through a lot, but she's a good kid. Probably much better than I was when I was a teenager."

"Were you the ultimate bad boy, Mr. Darcy?"

"Were my adolescent years to fit into any kind of stereotype, it'd probably be the 'poor little rich boy' to be honest."

"I've met a bunch of those, and you're not nearly the worst. Just think about all the Netherfield boys I've met."

"Yeah, Charles tells me they're a handful."

"That's one way to see it. Anyway, Charles doesn't really fit into the Netherfield teacher norm either. How long has he been in the job?"

"Only for a couple of years actually. His father wanted him to go into banking so after he finished a grad school he decided to do something he really enjoyed before having to spend his life working for his family's company."

"And he loves computer science? Like programming and all that? It's just so nerdy and cute. I hope he stays at the job as much as he can. Netherfield really needs nice, mature men to be around all those boys and their hormones. He seems to like Jane, too, so that's also a plus."

"Jane seems nice enough."

"What do you mean, nice enough? I overheard you saying that she was the only one in the room worthy of his attentions, so don't go around saying she's just nice enough now."

"Nothing, I just want the best for my friend, that's all." There was the spark. He felt as though his whole body had been charmed as soon as that little light appeared and turned to look at him. What was it that caused it? Was it passion, anger? Or was it just being Liz Bennet that caused it? Did she always behave like this? Going whole-heartedly into everything she believed in or did? That had to be exhausting, just keeping up with her was exhausting. Exhausting and exciting though, he had to give her that. While Will was caught up on his thoughts, Lizzy kept walking around and looking at the beautiful art pieces that were hung up on the walls. They didn't talk for a while, but they stayed closed to one another, not wanting to get lost and having Gigi giving them a talk about how to be nice and friendly to one another.

* * *

Darcy finally caught up with Lizzy when they got to the top floor, where all the modern and contemporary art was located. She was standing in front of a big Pollock, staring intensely at it. It was like nothing around her could come between her and that painting. He walked up to her height, and stood by her side.

"I never really did understand modern art, to be completely honest with you." She said, startling him. "I mean, I can appreciate its beauty, if it's got a certain feel to it, with the colors and shapes or whatever, but just because I like it, it doesn't mean I understand it."

"My mother used to tell me when I was a kid, that the best thing about modern art is that if you're really open to it, it can mean whatever you want it to mean. I don't know what Pollock wanted to communicate with all this paint, throwing it against the white canvas, but I do know that I hope he meant to tell his sister's advisor that he was extremely sorry for being so bad at interacting with people." He really hoped that this got the effect he wanted it to have.

"Well, I for one am not sure if Pollock had a sister but what I am sure of is that her advisor would have probably forgiven her idiot brother and forgotten everything about all the idiotic things that he said."

"They weren't that bad, were they?" Darcy was a little embarrassed about how socially inadequate he was sometimes, specially if nervous or in new situations.

"They were pretty damn bad." Lizzy smiled at him. He really was handsome, but in that exact moment he wasn't as much handsome as he was just cute, trying to hide his embarrassment, looking away from her.

"Well, Mr. Darcy…"

"You can call me William now." He interrupted.

"Oh, but I'm afraid that is a right that you have to earn, Mr. Darcy. Until then, there is no way I'll stop acting all formal around you." She smiled as she teased him.

"And how shall I earn it then, Ms. Bennet?"

"It can only be through your actions showing you have a heart of gold. Do you think you can manage that, Mr. Darcy?"

"The position you're putting me in is a compromising one, Liz, but I will try to live up to your standards." She smiled at how easily he was following her teasing now that she had cleared up her opinion of him. It was also really nice to be called Liz again. No one had called her Liz since her sister, and it had been a long time from that.

* * *

"Ms. Bennet! William!" Gigi called to them when they got to the bottom floor of the museum again. She was sitting next to a boy, who was probably a part of the visiting group that she had joined to go along with the tour guide. "I'm sorry, Josh, but I think I have to go." She said, looking at the cute, dark haired boy who looked her way with wide eyes, as if she'd disappear if he blinked.

"I have your number though, so I can text you right?"

"Right." She smiled and kissed him on the cheek before joining her stone-faced brother and advisor.

"Get on it, girl!" Lizzy joked. "No but seriously, he seemed nice, and he was clearly not a Netherfield boy. Just pray he has a car so that he can take you places out of campus." Gigi smiled radiantly, her red hair falling everywhere around her face and her light green eyes shining.

"Elizabeth, are you completely mental?" Well, Darcy seemed to have come out of his shock. "You are not to 'text' him or talk to him or see him and much less let him drive you around! Do you not remember why you are in an all-girls school?"

"Relax, Darcy, he's just a boy. She's seventeen too, she knows how to handle this stuff, she's not a kid anymore."

"She is sixteen!" He put a special emphasis on the number. "And she does not know how to handle this sort of stuff! Georgiana, you are very vulnerable right now and you know this is not good for you. Centre your focus on your studies and nothing will go wrong again." After that, Darcy stormed off the scene, leaving a very confused Lizzy behind and Gigi feeling smaller and much more helpless than she had felt in a really long time.

She then threw her arms around Lizzy tightly and hugged her for a good five minutes while the older girl tried to make her feel better. Even the teensiest bit better would help, she told herself, as she was not the best at consoling people in need of it.

"Shhhh. It's alright Gigi. Everything's going to turn out just fine." As Lizzy noticed Gigi calming down, and the sobbing stopped she whispered to her ear. "Do you think we can go out from a side door so that your brother won't see us and that way we can be by ourselves for a little bit? You don't have to answer his calls or texts, it'll just be you and me and some lunch for a while, until he calms down."

"Mmmhhhmmm." Lizzy felt the teenager nod and move slightly away from her. They walked towards the smaller entrance that was on one of the side aisles of the museum.

"So, missy, where to? I know pretty much every place around here, and even though nothing is fancy, we can still have a good lunch!" Georgiana shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, don't give me that. I remember what it was like to be a teenager, and I know there's absolutely nothing that you like more than pizza and ice cream. The only question is, what do you want first?"

"Ice cream." Said the younger girl in a small voice.

"Then ice cream it shall be." There was an ice cream parlor that Lizzy remembered frequenting a lot during her summer days after visiting the museum. She hoped they still had that amazing vanilla milkshake that she loved while growing up. She put her arm around Gigi's shoulders just so that she'd feel a little more protected right now, and they started walking the few blocks that separated them from ice cream heaven in silence.

* * *

"This place is amazing." Said Gigi once she sat down in front of Elizabeth on the booth they'd chosen, far from the window.

"I know, I can't believe they still have this amazing vanilla milkshake. Seriously it's been like over six years since I came here."

"What I can't believe is that you chose something as lame as a vanilla milkshake, I thought you were cool."

"Hey, I'm still your advisor, hon, don't take advantage of being my favorite to underestimate the best dessert on Earth: vanilla milkshake."

"I'm your favorite?" Gigi's face lit up.

"Uhhmmm, I shouldn't have said that I guess, but now that the truth's out in the open, I can't really deny it. Yup, you're my favorite. It's only because I wish I had your hair though, like I really want it." Lizzy joked around.

"Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful." Gigi imitated the valley girl accent again, she was getting terribly good at it.

"I'd never hate you, I'd just shave your head and use your hair to make myself a wig." It was crazy how good friends she was becoming with this teenage girl. I guess it was becoming more than friendship, because at the same time she felt the need to protect her and advise her and be there for her during any troubles she found along her path. Gigi laughed at her joke and then centered her attention on her mint chocolate chip ice cream, which she'd topped with plenty of Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Oreos and M&M's.

"Ms. Bennet, why did you tell that man at the coffee shop that you couldn't have left New England?" Lizzy was startled when Gigi broke their silence to ask such a specific question, and such an insightful and hurtful one too. However, she felt as though, if she wanted her bond with her young advisee to continue to be strong, and if she wanted her to completely trust her, she'd have to be honest with her.

"Well, when you asked me whether I knew the area and I said yes, I didn't tell you exactly why it was, because apart from having studied at Duch's, I know the area because my family and I used to live here in Hartford. It's where I grew up. I had never really left the state for long periods of time until I went to college in New York. The thing is, when we lived in Hartford, it was my mom and dad, my sister and me. It's a working class city, that's true, but my dad worked on a public library and my mom worked for the city government, so it wasn't like we ever felt the need for anything we didn't have. My sister and I went to a public school but my dad always put a very big input on the importance of being a good student and reading and knowing as much as possible outside of what school required from us. When I was fourteen I got a scholarship and came to Duch's, my sister who was sixteen stayed home but was okay with it, she had a boyfriend and she thought they were going to be together forever and all that stuff. My sister was really pretty, like crazy pretty, not at all like me. She was taller and had the most beautiful curly dark blonde hair. My mom always joked around saying that she'd marry an important guy with lots of money and that she'd finally be able to quit her job. Instead of that, my sister married her longtime high school boyfriend when she got right out of senior year. She decided she didn't want to go to college and took a crappy part time job at a diner near where she lived with her husband. My dad was furious with her, said she was wasting her life away with a low-life who didn't even love her, and so she cut the connection with us for a while. Then like a year later at the start of my senior year she came back home one night, with bruises all over her body saying that it'd been his husband. My parents of course took care of her, but she was never the same again. When I finished high school, I moved back home to try to help her, and we started to see some changes, so that's why I enrolled in NYU the year after. For the first two years of college I drove all the way from New York every day, but I always ended up so exhausted I was never any help. Jane switched from dorm to apartment for her last undergrad year, so I moved in with her and only came back home during the weekends. The year later, I rarely came home except for like big holidays because I was really applying myself on finishing my degree with the best grades possible, and it was too much for her. The day after my graduation, we found her in her room sleeping, except she wasn't sleeping, she'd mixed a bunch of pills and alcohol and she'd left us a note. She'd entered a very deep depression and I guess my parents and I were never really able to comprehend how serious it'd grown to be. I was a wreck, I couldn't believe it, and I blamed myself to no end for months. It was horrible to be in that same house with my parents, who I think blamed me involuntarily too, for not being there, you know? They didn't tell me directly or anything, it was just that I felt their accusing looks behind my back constantly and I after a while I couldn't stand it anymore so I applied to do a post grad at King's in London. Of course my parents told me I couldn't go, I couldn't just leave them behind, and so I actually haven't seen them since I moved to London, for around five years or so. You know what's funny? I get their Christmas card every year, and it's a picture of the four of us with the caption 'The Bennet family wishes you the best during your holidays and a great start of the year!' It's completely ridiculous. I don't think my mom has accepted any of this yet, but I've been emailing my dad for a while and he finally understands my need to leave when I left. I'm probably going to see him during thanksgiving break, so that's exciting." Gigi stared wide eyed at her. For a moment, the fact that she wasn't even seventeen and that she was her student, sunk deeply in Elizabeth. Had she really told her all about her family? Barely no one knew about it. She'd told Charlotte, because she'd grown to be a great friend of hers, of course Jane knew and Dan and Pete and basically all of that family, but because they were people who'd helped her get through it and truly heal after what had happened. Ever since starting to teach at Duch's, she'd felt so carefree and like her past wouldn't hunt her anymore, but what if it did? What if now that Gigi knew the truth she treated her different, she pitied her? What if she told William and then magically he grew really nice and sympathetic on her? No, William probably wasn't capable of being nice to her, even though his apology back at the museum had felt genuine and truly sweet of him. After seeing him flip out at Georgie like that though, she doubted she'd be able to see him capable of being nice again.

"I'm really sorry Ms. Bennet." She finally broke her silence, with the tiniest hint of a voice.

"There's no need, Gigi, you didn't do anything, but thank you. I realize now that I probably shouldn't have told you the story. It's probably too much for a sixteen year old anyway, so I apologize. You're a sixteen year old who doesn't even want to hear about it, so sorry."

"No, no. There's no need to apologize, I really appreciate you telling me about your past, it's like when you see your teachers at the supermarket doing grocery shopping and you realize they're people, just like you and your friends and your neighbours? Well, this was like that but a bit more extreme. I don't think I completely understand what you went through but I do know how hard it is to loose someone you love." She smiled at her advisor, suddenly feeling like their bond had deepened. Her phone rang right then. "It's Will." She said, looking at the caller ID. "I'm not taking it though, you promised pizza, and not even an English woman like me can say no to such a tempting offer."

* * *

_OK! Now tell me what you all think! Maybe it's too much drama? I've defenitely felt like it was a little bit too much drama at some points, but it is what it is! Also, I know it's kind of weird that this story is told to Gigi, who is much more of a minor character in the book, but I just couldn't fit it in a conversation with Jane or with William, because the former already knows it and the Lizzy doesn't have enough trust in the latter. I do hope you enjoyed the little moments they had in the museum, I know it's not much, but we'll get to it, I SWEAR. I changed the rating to T for obvious reasons._


End file.
